Open AccessIndigenous Peoples and the State - International Perspectives on the Treaty of Waitangi
Author(s) -
Linda Te Aho
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of new zealand studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.102
0eISSN - 2324-3740
pISSN - 1176-306X
DOI - 10.26686/jnzs.v0ins29.6270
Subject(s) - treaty of waitangi , treaty , law , indigenous , statute , context (archaeology) , economic justice , state (computer science) , legislation , indigenous rights , sociology , political science , meaning (existential) , history , human rights , archaeology , epistemology , philosophy , ecology , algorithm , computer science , biology
Just over thirty years ago, in the High Court decision Huakina Development Trust v Waikato Valley Authority, Justice Chilwell famously stated: “There can be no doubt that the Treaty is part of the fabric of New Zealand society”.[1] At a symposium celebrating 30 years of the Huakina decision, Tom Bennion described the judgment as “a marker, a significant new structure sticking out in the legal landscape, indicating the shape of arguments to come.” This collection of work brings together a range of arguments for our time as to the meaning and importance of the Treaty of Waitangi shaped by different perspectives as to its context and history.
[1] [1987] 2 NZLR 188, at 210. As a result of that case, the Treaty is now part of the context in which legislation which impinges upon its principles is to be interpreted, even where a statute is silent as to the Treaty or its principles.